In the most recent episode of the Weekender (from February 7th), Warren and the guys at Beasts of War discussed the current situation.
Here is a link to the video (the relevant discussion starts at 59:37).
Warren and Lloyd's insightful commentary echoes our feelings very well. If you aren't able to watch the video, here are a few quotes:
Our position on this as it currently stands is, 'For God's sake, guys, sort it out. Get together and sort it out.' Because I am really gutted for the game. I myself thought that Dust was one of the most promising games in the marketplace.
The game deserves it… Those backers deserve it. They deserve to get their stuff; they deserve to be overwhelmed by how cool it is.
This is a direct message to Dust Studio and Battlefront. I know that you are all personally hurting because I know that you were all personally invested in this project. But you guys aren't the most important people in all of this. Those backers are the most important people in all of this. Either one of you can say you support the backers. But unless you find a solution – and unless you give some ground to find a solution – then are you really on the side of the backers?
We appreciate Paolo Parente's contributions on social media. His passion for the world he has created does him credit. And most importantly, he has stated his commitment to producing all of the models for Wave Two – the one thing we all desperately want to see.
However, at this time we are still seeking meaningful dialogue with Dust Studio's majority shareholder, William Yau, regarding commitments that Paolo made during the Kickstarter campaign. The fact is, we have already paid more than $401,000 USD (between July/Aug 2014) to Dust Studio from the Kickstarter funds. And we provided them with the complete list of confirmed orders we had in early November (the orders for 1,258 people), after the pledge manager closed.
What should be clear to all is that the dispute involves only a part of the project – ironically, the free items – not the delivery of the entire project. As ever, we remain optimistic that this will all be resolved fairly and in all parties' best interests.
